Latest Road Deaths Australia Statistics

Media Release

JB002/2014

14 January 2014

The latest report on road deaths in Australia for the 2013 calendar year highlights improvements made in our road safety performance.

The Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics has today released statistics which show that during the 12 months ended December 2013 there were 1,193 road deaths. This is an 8.4 per cent reduction compared to the total for the previous year.

Presently the rate of annual deaths per 100,000 population stands at 5.2. Compared to the figure for the 12-monthly period ending December 2012, this is a 10.1 per cent reduction.

Current counts of road deaths are 17.0 per cent lower than five years ago, (2013 against 2008) and per population, the present annual rate of deaths is 23.7 per cent lower than five years ago.

Although these statistics are encouraging, the Australian Government is committed to doing more to ensure safer quality roads and highways are delivered throughout urban and regional Australia.

That is why we are investing over $30 billion towards our ambitious infrastructure investment programme over five years and a further $300 million to extend the national Black Spot Programme for a further five years.

The Black Spot Programme provides funding to upgrade known dangerous intersections and stretches of road and has been estimated to prevent over 4,000 accidents and save more than 30 lives each year.

Anyone can nominate sites or sections of road for safety improvements and I encourage people to do so in cooperation with their local elected representatives or other interested community organisations.

The latest statistics from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics is available at www.bitre.gov.au